


All For You

by toomanyunfinishedfics



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Also minor mention of neglectful parenting, Fluff, It takes place at the end of the game so there's potential, M/M, Secret Santa, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 08:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17138795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toomanyunfinishedfics/pseuds/toomanyunfinishedfics
Summary: Home, Akira decides, isn’t where you’re born or where you’re raised: it’s where you feel the most loved, and Akira won’t let anyone take that from him now that he’s finally found a home by Ryuji’s side.





	All For You

**Author's Note:**

  * For [faiinai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/faiinai/gifts).



> This is a Pegoryu Secret Santa gift for Phi! One of their prompts was “End of game, but protagonist decides to stay out of love for Ryuji,” and I love endgame/post game stuff, especially if it involves Akira staying with his found family in Tokyo. <3 Happy Holidays, and I hope you enjoy this fic! ;u;

When Akira was first forced to come to Tokyo for his probation, he never expected within one single year of his life to find himself with a group of close-knit friends that were more like family than his own family, nor a network of supportive adult figures and people that went out of their way to help him.

(He didn’t exactly expect to form the Phantom Thieves, take down corrupt adults with increasingly dangerous and complicated conspiracies behind them, and travel through Hell on Earth to shoot God in the face either, but that’s a whole other story.)

Yet here he was, two weeks before the end of his probation, dreading the passing of each and every minute--though he wasn’t born or raised here, Tokyo was his  _ home _ now, more than his too-huge house with his too-distant parents had ever been.

He didn’t want to leave everyone he’d grown close to over the past year.

But more importantly, he didn’t want to have to leave  _ Ryuji _ .

While he loved all of the friends that he’d made, Ryuji was just… he was  _ special _ : he’d been by Akira’s side from the very beginning; he’d had his back when no one else would; he’d brightened Akira’s days with smiles and laughter and friendly gestures and constant displays of support and loyalty and--

And  _ maybe _ Akira had it kind of bad for him--but honestly, how could he not?

Ryuji was sweet, and funny, and charming in his own unique way, with such a strong sense of justice and a combination of stubbornness and self-confidence that let him keep bouncing back every time society tried to push him down. Sure, he was a bit loud and reckless sometimes, but his heart was always in the right place, and his strength had been a pillar that Akira had leaned on more times than he could count over the course of the year.

Honestly, he wasn’t even sure he would have made it through the year at all without Ryuji by his side.

Which led him to his current dilemma: the thought of leaving Tokyo, of leaving  _ Ryuji _ , and going back to his home-that-wasn’t-a-home-anymore, where he would have to return to his old self. Keeping his head down, keeping quiet until spoken to, burying all traces of rebellion in favor of being obedient and not drawing attention to himself….

Ryuji had told him once that he felt free by his side, and Akira wished he could have properly expressed just how much those words resonated with him--he knew that if he were to leave Ryuji’s side, he’d be leaving his freedom and his place to belong behind with him.

(Though the Metaverse was gone, Akira could swear he felt Arsene’s protests in the back of his mind, and he couldn’t agree with him more. He was finally  _ free _ , he’d finally broken through the shackles forced onto him by society, and the  _ last _ thing he wanted was to go back to the meek, quiet, chained-up boy he used to be before Ryuji had come barreling into his life, unintentionally dragging him into the craziest adventure he would ever experience.)

Come hell or high water, Akira knew that there was no way he could ever leave Tokyo.

He’d gotten through tougher situations than this over the course of the year, right? He could just consider this one last mission, one last challenge for the leader of the Phantom Thieves.

Akira hadn’t failed a mission yet, and he wasn’t about to start now.

* * *

Ryuji had a feeling that Akira was hiding something.

For the past few days, any attempts to make plans to hang out with Akira fell through because he was busy with… well, Ryuji didn’t even know  _ what _ Akira was so busy with, though he couldn’t ignore the slight sting that came from the realization that whatever it was, it was more important than spending his last bit of time in Tokyo with his best friend.

(Of course, it was more than just that, but Ryuji wasn’t about to open  _ that _ can of worms--not when Akira would be leaving in hardly no time at all. No point in straining their perfectly-good friendship by bringing Ryuji’s not-so-platonic feelings into the mix.)

What’s worse was that Akira kept dodging the question whenever Ryuji tried to bring it up, assuring him that it was just some last-minute stuff and that they would hang out soon.

Ryuji was almost tempted to remind him that the deadline for  _ soon _ was approaching pretty damn quick, but that would also involve acknowledging that Akira was really leaving in less than two weeks, and a small, childish part of him was still hoping that avoiding saying it aloud would make it not true.

It was about three days before Akira was supposed to go home that Ryuji suddenly received a phone call, and he was both surprised and concerned to see Akira’s name on his screen.

Akira usually texted whenever he had to tell him something. Why was he suddenly calling?

Deciding to cut straight to the chase instead of worrying himself half to death with theories and assumptions, Ryuji quickly answered the phone, his brows pinched in a mixture of concern and curiosity.

“Akira? What’s up?”

“ _ Hey, are you free right now? _ ”

Ryuji ran a hand through his hair, trying to pin down the emotion in his voice--he didn’t sound  _ upset _ , which was a good sign, but he also sounded a bit… breathless?

“Of course, dude; y’know I’ve always got time for you,” Ryuji responded with a smile. “You wanna meet up, or…?”

“ _ Yeah. Think you can come by LeBlanc? If not then I can meet up with you somewhere else-- _ ”

“LeBlanc’s fine,” Ryuji responded, already putting on his shoes and grabbing his keys. “I’ll be there in a bit.”

The entire way to LeBlanc, Ryuji couldn’t help but wonder what was going on--Akira obviously had something in mind when he asked him to meet up, but he’d made it clear that he was fine with meeting anywhere, so it wasn’t like he wanted to take him somewhere or show him something… so what else could it be?

(Maybe Akira was finally going to tell Ryuji why he’d been avoiding hanging out with him?)

(Ryuji wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know the answer at this point. All he wanted to do now was spend the last few days that Akira was in Tokyo having a good time with his best friend; he was scared that any kind of serious conversation might ruin things and force Akira to go back home on a bad note.)

By the time Ryuji arrived, he’d already worked himself into a negative spiral of what-ifs and worst-case scenarios--so seeing Akira’s bright smile when he walked into the cafe was like an immediate weight being lifted off his shoulders, allowing him to let out a quiet, relieved sigh and let a genuine smile quickly spread across his own face.

If Akira was this happy to see him, then there was no way that he had any bad news to tell him.

“Sojiro, do you mind--” Akira didn’t even manage to get his question out before Sojiro was waving him off with a smile.

“Go on, I know you’ve been itching to tell him since yesterday. I can handle things down here.”

Ryuji looked between the two of them in confusion, watching as Akira tossed aside his apron and--to Ryuji’s embarrassment--grabbed him by the hand before pulling him along with him upstairs.

“Wh-- Akira, what’s going on??”

Akira turned to properly face Ryuji once they were in his room, hardly even registering that he was still holding Ryuji’s hand as he said, “I’m staying.”

Ryuji blinked, the abrupt statement catching him as off-guard as the hand still gripping his own--but as soon as the meaning behind the two simple words registered, Ryuji’s eyes widened in a mixture of shock and hope.

“For real? You’re not going home? You’re-- you’re really staying?”

Akira smiled and nodded, and that’s all he was able to get out before Ryuji swept him up in an excited hug, laughter bubbling up between the two of them as Akira hugged him back.

“Dude, not that I’m not excited--because I  _ seriously _ am, holy  _ shit _ \--but how’d you manage to do it?” Ryuji asked after finally letting go of Akira, both of their faces flushed from a mixture of lingering giddiness and slight embarrassment as their actions caught up with them. “I thought you said you couldn’t stay because your parents wanted you back home after your probation was up?”

“Well… I had some help,” Akira began, gesturing for Ryuji to sit down with him on the sofa as he moved to take a seat. “Long story short… my parents don’t have legal custody of me anymore.” He waved a hand dismissively as he saw Ryuji’s concerned and confused expression, and pressed on before he could ask any questions. “Futaba was able to pull together some evidence of child neglect, including their lack of contact with me over the course of this year--and since they’re more worried about maintaining their image than they are about fighting to keep custody of me, they were more than happy to sign off on some paperwork with Sae’s help in order to make Sojiro my new legal guardian without having to go to court over it.”

“Dude, are you sure you’re alright?” At Akira’s confused expression, he added, “I mean, your parents just-- just agreeing to sign you away like that without batting an eye sounds… I dunno, man. I’m glad you’re staying, but doesn’t that bother you even just a little?”

Akira let out a quiet breath, leaning back against the sofa and closing his eyes. “... Honestly? Yeah, it stings. I thought they would at least put up  _ some _ sort of fight, and I was genuinely bracing myself for having to argue my side and trying to convince them to let me stay… but in the end, I guess part of me already knew that they wouldn’t care. I wouldn’t have thought to suggest something like this in the first place if I didn’t.”

Ryuji frowned, reaching out without thinking to swing an arm around Akira’s shoulders and pull him against his side. “Your parents suck,” he said bluntly, prompting a quiet chuckle from Akira as he relaxed against Ryuji. “But it’s alright to be upset. If they’re really that bad, though, then I’m really glad you’re not forcing yourself to go back home to them.”

Akira smiled softly. “Like I said, it does admittedly sting, but I’m fine. I’ve already made peace with it--and at this point I’m just relieved that I can stay here, with people that really care about me.”

“If you say so.” Ryuji gave Akira’s shoulder a light squeeze, briefly considering moving his arm before deciding it wouldn’t be a big deal to keep it where it was--sitting like this was comfortable, and Akira didn’t look bothered by it either. “What made you decide to do this, though? You kept insisting for a while that you had to go home; what made you change your mind?”

Akira dropped his gaze, feeling slightly flustered as he spoke. “I… well, do you remember when you told me that you feel free by my side?”

“Dude, you seriously remember that?” Ryuji asked with an embarrassed laugh.

“Of course I do.” Akira shifted so he could turn and force himself to properly look at Ryuji. “It meant a lot to me, but I never gave you a proper reply.”

“You don’t have to--”

“I feel free by your side too,” Akira continued, meeting his eyes despite Ryuji’s clear embarrassment, embarrassment that was probably reflected on Akira’s own flushed face. “The thought of leaving you behind, leaving behind the freedom that you gave me-- I just can’t do it. Maybe it’s selfish of me, but I just… even more than staying with all of my friends, all of the family I made for myself here, I want to stay with  _ you _ .”

“... Akira….”

Akira smiled as he took in Ryuji’s wide-eyed expression, shocked and embarrassed and elated all at once, before leaning forward, clearing the distance between the two of them and pressing their lips together in a chaste kiss.

“I don’t belong in some house in the middle of nowhere, chained down by parents that don’t care about me--my place is here in Tokyo, by your side. I’m just glad I realized it before I made the biggest mistake of my life.”

“You just-- and you’re staying for  _ me _ …?”

“Is that a problem?” Akira teased lightly.

Ryuji snapped out of his shocked stupor at the sight of Akira’s small smirk, a grin working its way onto his face as he laughed and pulled Akira close.

“Nah, I think I can live with that,” he teased right back.

Akira swore he physically felt his heart swelling in a mixture of relief and elation as Ryuji pulled him in for a proper kiss, and he wasted no time in wrapping his arms around Ryuji and pressing closer to him in return.

Now more than ever, Akira knew that he’d made the right choice in not giving in to his parents and leaving Tokyo: home is where the heart is, as they say, and from the very beginning his heart had made itself at home by Ryuji’s side.


End file.
